The present invention is directed toward a conveyor system for transporting sausage loops to a smoke stick for further processing. More specifically, the invention is directed toward a conveyor system having a moveable drop point.
Conveyor systems for transporting sausage loops are known in the art. When making linked sausages, it is usually necessary to loop the sausage casings onto smoke sticks. Typically, the casings are automatically looped onto hooks attached to a conveyor chain that transports the loops away from the loading point and toward an unloading point. A smoke stick is placed within the loops and lifted away from the hooks causing the loops to transfer from the hooks to the smoke stick. This transfer is done either manually or automatically.
In placing the loops on the smoke stick, the loops should be placed far enough apart so that the sausages do not touch, which permits uniform cooking, yet still close enough together to maximize the number of loops on a smoke stick for efficient use of the oven space. Also, the casings must be looped so that an entire casing fits onto a single smoke stick. Presently, the spacing of the loops is primarily dependent on the diameter of the sausage. To adjust the spacing, conveyors are available with different hook spacings for different sizes of sausage. As the size of the sausage is changed, the hook spacings must also be changed which is difficult and time consuming. In addition, with present conveyors time is required to remove a filled smoke stick and position an empty smoke stick for further processing. The time needed to remove and replace the smoke stick slows the sausage production and requires additional time to fill the oven. Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a conveyor system that addresses these deficiencies.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a conveyor system with a moveable drop point.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a conveyor system where the spacing between loops placed on a smoke stick is easily adjusted.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a conveyor system that reduces the amount of time of removal and replacement of the smoke stick.
These and other objectives will be apparent to one skilled in the art based on the drawings, written description, and claims.